The death of the church musician …birth of the creative leaderDavid JordanLet’s face it, for years we have kind of had our way in how we created “church music.” Now, looking in our rear view mirror, we see that many of the tried and true ways of that past are not working as well. Hmm... The choir is disappearing, many of the new hymns are singable, but just not very musical. And a lot of people don’t seem too bothered by it. Hmm...Does this forebode an era where people are no longer interested in church music? “Heavens” no! In fact, their interest may still be quite strong. But everything around us seems to be changing. Well, Dave, what are we supposed to do, learn how to use “Rock” to get people interested?First of all let’s calm down and use the term MIP. MIPs are the new VIPs of church music.

MIP stands for Musically Interested Person. Not necessarily trained, not necessarily someone who has been involved for 30 years, but some who might have some experience, and really does like “church music.”MIPs really do want to help, really do like music, and want to worship God and help other people do the same. These are people who are willing to follow someone who has some expertise, of course, but more importantly who cares about each one of the MIPs. They need to feel welcomed - not like they are auditioning for American Idol.How do you lead people interested in music into the future together? How do you lead them into thinking about doing things differently? How do you make it

easy for them to participate and become part of the music community in your church? You’re still the leader, that hasn’t changed, but maybe there are some things that could make your leadership easier and more effective.We still want to maintain

Excellent, beautifully performed music that helps draw people closer to God

A place for more people to sing, play, or just support what you do

A community that builds each other and the church.

What if in choosing music for worship, you chose music your choir could do beautifully and elegantly rather than difficult "standards" that aren’t done well, and well, “don’t sound so great.”What if we redefined a few things and realized that Musically Interested People:

· Really do want to participate but not painfully so· Really do want to help but not as an avocation· Really do want to do well, but not take the joy out of musicWhat if --instead of a 3 hour evening rehearsal which most people don’t have the time or interest to do,the choir rehearses/really focuses on Sunday morning for an hour to prepare an anthem and lead the service really well?Most MIPs will really appreciate this rehearsal plan and be willing to attend (instead of having to make another excuse about missing Thursday night rehearsal)What if we got to the point that this was our new reality and we could lead and build from there?

I hope we are reading off the same score. In the February issue issue we will share 10 creative ideas that could help you redefine your music ministry.Ideas that could help all of us build a community of VIP MIPs into a vital part of the church and music program. A fellowship, if you will, of like-minded intentional Musically Interested People who want to serve in some way, and not only feel good about it but have a pride in the fact that they did something really well? Are you excited? I know I am just thinking about it.

Top Ten Ways to Help Birth the Creative Leader in YouDavid Jordan1. CREATE the MIPs and the future music program for your church. Just for a moment, think about how fast the last ten years of your life have gone. (Your memory is not faltering! The years really do go by that fast.) Now think about what your church music program would look like today if you had started some of the following programs ten years ago. Okay fine, you might have met your demise. However, if it had worked, your music program and interest in the future of music in your church would be at the level and interest that you had been wishing for ten years. Yes, you’d be there. You can create a formidable community of not only music supporters, but participants who understand and back what you are striving to accomplish in your music ministry --MIPs (those Musically Important People) who will enhance your worship and uplift your people.When we presented our Bach and Sons concert at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Largo, Florida, we met music educators who have designed a church music program for children of all ages. Among the tools they use is a program called TheMusic Garden.Believe it or not, it’s for ages 0 to 5. During this time the kids learn to love music and start to grasp some of the fundamentals while enjoying the experience of music. They also offer beginning chimes and choir at the middle school age. This is a great way to keep children interested and involved. They have presented this program, combined with their own developed approaches, at Prince of Peace for about 15 years. At this point they not only enjoy the fact that the children like and are staying involved in music, but are also involved in the church as well. In fact, one of the young woman who started out as a youngster in their early age choir now brings her son to the classes. In their upper youth choir, 90% of the members have participated in the other earlier musical experiences at the church. That’s an impressive retention rate. Their older youth and high school choir members mentor the younger students who are learning the fundamentals of music.Thanks to this incredible "feeder program", the church also has a superior adult choir of 50. I believe that with so much emphasis on music at every age and, of course, creative motivating directors, the future of great music at Prince of Peace is assured for generations to come.There are many other methods such as the Royal School of Church Music in America which has proven itself for many years for building a generational music program. We are not “selling” a particular church music course, but are selling the concept of how important early and continuing music education is in the church for the long term. The church has been and will still be around for a long time. Let’s make sure great music is a part of it!

2. STAGE a Hymn-a-thon Fundraising Event

We talked about this in an earlier article, but I will try to reduce this description to 25 words…and more. We had a financial need in our church to keep our church music ministry going and our MIPs involved. So we staged a Hymn-a-thon Fundraising Event which consisted of 12 hours of singing – the time it took to sing every hymn in our hymnal. People in the church who were not in the choir, but are MIPs, joined us by donating money, asking for pledges, bringing food, counting money, and encouraging, and supporting our efforts and our fundraising goal. Those MIPs got behind what we were doing and felt great about their participation. After the event, those who had not been involved discovered they had missed out on something great. IF we do another Hymn-a-thon, I’m sure we will have a new group of folks anxious to become MIPs.

3. HOSTa Concert with a CauseThese are concerts that could consist of any combination of musicians and are presented to raise funds for a cause outside your own choir room – Habitat for Humanity, hurricane relief, homeless shelters, food banks, etc. The way this works is to bring in a concert artist and have a patron or patrons sponsor them. Then you and your MIPs host the concert and charge, okay, ask for a donation for “x” cause. People then feel like they are helping in a broader community sense and have also become involved in your music ministry with the possibility of becoming future MIPs as well.

4. COLLABORATE with other musical organizations Collaborate with organizations such as the American Guild of Organists, American Choral Directors Association, music teachers associations, piano teacher’s guilds, and/or arts organizations in your community to host events. The work and financial responsibility as well as the excitement of hosting a major event is shared with a wider group of MIPs in the community. For example, when hosting an organ concert, collaborate with the piano teachers in the area. At several of our Bach and Sons performances around the country, local piano teachers have had their students perform Bach repertoire at the reception following the concert. Another group of piano teachers held a Bach poster contest with the posters on display and the winners announced at the concert. The result of these collaborations is that another group of MIPs became aware of your music ministry.

5. INVITE local university or high school choirs to present a concert and/or participate in worship Every group of MIPs includes someone who went to college and quite often they are proud and supportive of their alma mater. What about bringing that school’s choir or band to your church for a concert and/or participation in your worship service?

How can the MIPs become involved? By welcoming these young people, providing housing and meals, and most importantly by inviting a friend or colleague to the concert to share in yet another music-making and music-sharing experience. The result is that your church and music ministry become known to the greater community, generating excitement and increasing future MIP involvement in your ministry.6. PROVIDE scholarships for organ study or voice lessonsJeannine has a wonderful studio of adult organ students, many of whom are church musicians. Each of these students is serious about enhancing their skills and planning, preparing, and presenting excellent music for their various worship services. It is truly a joy when MIPs (sometimes anonymous, sometimes known) contribute money for organ scholarships to assist these organists in their quest to improve their skills. If we make it known that our musicians want to study and need the financial resources to do so, wouldn’t it be a wonderful way to include more MIPs in our ministry? 7. SPONSOR an anthem contest for university composition students

Composers always like to hear their music performed. Why not involve your MIPs in planning, implementing, and funding an anthem contest where the winning anthem would be sung by your choir? With today’s social media, the winning anthem might be from a composer in your community or from 2000 miles away.

8. SHARE your space

Many churches share their space weekly or monthly with various “outside” organizations. Wouldn’t it benefit your music ministry and increase your MIP base in the community if you were to share your music room with the local AGO chapter, MTNA group or Community Arts Organization? What if you hosted a Suzuki Music School at your church, making it available to the community at large, but also offering a scholarship program for children of church members to attend the school?

9. SUPPORT other events in your communityBeing a visible part of the music and art world outside your sanctuary or choir room will bring MIPs to your ministry. Mutual support – always important

10. INTERACT with the community Let the community know who you are and what you do.Do you describe the contributions of your MIPs on social media? Do you contribute to your church newsletter? Is the music page of your church website up-to-date? Have you written an article or presented a radio interview to let the community know about the MIPs of your church? Since there aren’t enough hours in the day for any music minister to do all the above, this is another amazing way to involve those MIPs gifted in communication, social media, writing, and speaking in your ministry.

ASK and make your needs known!Let's see, how does that one go?Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.King James Version (KJV) by Public DomainHmm... it should work for what we do.